Song of Solomon 4

1 How beautiful you are, my darling— how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.

Groom to Bride: How beautiful you are, my love, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are those of a dove, except for what is hidden within. Your hair is like flocks of goats, which ascend along the mountain of Gilead.

2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin, and not one of them is lost.

Your teeth are like flocks of shorn sheep, which ascend from the washing, each one with its identical twin, and not one among them is barren.

3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon, and your mouth is lovely. Your brow behind your veil is like a slice of pomegranate.

Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon, and your eloquence is sweetness. Like a piece of pomegranate, so are your cheeks, except for what is hidden within.

4 Your neck is like the tower of David, built with rows of stones; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.

Your neck is like the tower of David, which was built with ramparts: a thousand shields are hanging from it, all the armor of the strong.

5 Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.

Your two breasts are like two young does, twins that pasture among the lilies.

6 Before the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.

Until the day rises and the shadows decline, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.

7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling; in you there is no flaw.

You are totally beautiful, my love, and there is no blemish in you.

8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon! Descend from the peak of Amana, from the summits of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards.

Advance from Lebanon, my spouse, advance from Lebanon, advance. You shall be crowned at the head of Amana, near the summit of Senir and Hermon, by the dens of lions, by the mountains of leopards.

9 You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck.

You have wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse. You have wounded my heart with one look of your eyes, and with one lock of hair on your neck.

10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! Your love is much better than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices.

How beautiful are your breasts, my sister, my spouse! Your breasts are more beautiful than wine, and the fragrance of your ointments is above all aromatic oils.

11 Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness like the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon.

Your lips, my spouse, are a dripping honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue. And the fragrance of your garments is like the odor of frankincense.

12 My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up, a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed.

An enclosed garden is my sister, my spouse: an enclosed garden, a sealed fountain.

13 Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,

You send forth a paradise of pomegranates along with the fruits of the orchard: Cypress grapes, with aromatic oil;

14 with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.

aromatic oil and saffron; sweet cane and cinnamon, with all the trees of Lebanon; myrrh and aloe, with all the best ointments.

15 You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.

The fountain of the gardens is a well of living waters, which flow forcefully from Lebanon.

16 Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind. Breathe on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choicest fruits.

Rise up, north wind, and advance, south wind. Send a breeze through my garden, and carry its aromatic scents.